


Not How I Planned

by TazzyJan



Series: The Taming of the Shrew [2]
Category: Salvation (2017)
Genre: 69 (Sex Position), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-15 11:50:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11805414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TazzyJan/pseuds/TazzyJan
Summary: Darius and Liam continue their relationship as Darius works on getting past everything that happened.





	Not How I Planned

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Snow_Glory](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snow_Glory/gifts).



Darius lay on the sofa with Liam letting the afterglow settle around him like a warm blanket. After the last couple of days, it was a welcome comfort. He recognized the irony of taking comfort in this when all he had set out to do was give Liam a shoulder to lean on should he need one. Yet he could not deny how good, _how right_ , this felt. 

He started to ask Liam if he was comfortable when his phone went off. Out of habit, he reached for it before he could stop himself earning a huff of amusement from the younger man. Darius smiled in return until he saw just who was calling him so late. 

He almost dropped the phone when he saw Harris’ name flash across the screen and had to tighten his grip to keep hold of it. He licked his lips, his mouth suddenly dry as too recent memories of pain and water and a needle came rushing back. 

“Who is it?” Liam asked.

“Ah, Harris,” Darius said, shaking himself out of his sudden stupor. Forcing a calm he did not feel, he carefully slid out from under the other man. “I need to take this.”

Liam watched Darius disappear around the corner with a frown. Something had thrown the man but he had no idea what. He was fine until Harris called. Why would that be a big deal, though? Was it that he didn’t want anyone to know he was there? That couldn’t be it. Darius hadn’t tensed when the call came in. He hadn’t gone rigid until he’d seen who it was that was calling. 

Alone on the sofa, Liam tried not to think about how complicated things had just become. For starters, Darius was his boss. Next, there was Jillian to think about. That was assuming, of course, that this was more than just a one night stand for Darius and Liam wasn’t at all sure that wasn’t the case. He closed his eyes as he realized they were going to have to talk about this. 

In the pantry, Darius answered the call, pulling on his most nonchalant mask. “Harris! What can I do for you?” Darius said cheerfully.

“Darius, sorry for calling so late. How are you?”

“Me? Oh fine,” Darius replied, wondering what Harris was up to. The man barely tolerated him on a good day. Case in point, having him tortured for information without a shred of evidence as to his culpability. 

“Good. Good. I’d like to talk to you about a few things. Do you think you could come by my office first thing tomorrow?” Harris asked.

“What? Why?” Darius asked much louder than he intended, caught off guard by the question. He spun around, as if expecting to find someone sneaking up behind him, and pressed his back to the wall.

“I just wanted to go over a few things with you,” Harris replied carefully, surprised by Darius’ reaction, though he realized he probably shouldn’t be. Not after everything Darius had been through and at his hands no less.

“I can’t. I have a… a meeting. I have to go,” Darius said, fumbling to disconnect the call as he slowly slid down the wall behind him. His chest began to ache where the strap had dug into him as he had fought, helplessly. Even the bruises on his legs from where they had held him down throbbed anew. 

All at once he was back there again, in that room where all he could see was that tacky green cloth covering his face as he was drowned again and again. He broke out in a sweat as the memories assailed him, one after the other. 

The cloth.

The water.

The questions.

Choking and gasping as he tried to hold his breath, to not breathe the water in, but they were relentless and he found himself able to hold his breath less and less. The last time, he felt his gorge rise and nearly vomited as his lungs expelled the water he had been unable to keep from breathing in as his body lost its fight. 

He tried to tell himself that he was being ridiculous. Harris knew he wasn’t the mole. He wouldn’t do that to him again. But Harris hadn’t wanted him there to begin with, had been against him being part of the project from day one. It hadn’t mattered that he had provided the only viable plan to save them all. It hadn’t mattered that he had put the full force of Tanz Industries at their disposal to make that plan a reality. Harris was in charge and he had the ability to have him strapped to a table and systematically taken apart whenever he wanted to. All he had to do was claim that he had become a threat to national security again. 

Darius shook his head, angry at where he had allowed his thoughts to take him. He was being foolish. Worse than that, he was being paranoid. What would Liam think if he came in here and found him like this?

At the thought of Liam, Darius went completely still as the last few hours replayed themselves in his mind. What the hell had he been thinking? He could not believe he had let that happen. Liam was one of his employees! He had meant to give the young man a shoulder to cry on, not… not… 

“Darius?” Liam called softly as he came around the corner and into the pantry. He had heard Darius’ raised voice on the phone and grown worried. He had waited for him to come back out and when he hadn’t had come to check on him. He hadn’t expected to find him sitting on the floor looking… lost.

“Liam!” Darius cried out, startled. 

“Hey,” Liam said, his voice still soft as he crouched down next to the man. He could tell immediately that something wasn’t right. Darius looked wild-eyed, like he was ready to bolt. What the hell did Harris say to him?

Darius stared at the other man, indecision freezing him in place. He knew he needed to get up off the floor, that he needed to get his act together, but he couldn’t make himself move. Liam was looking at him with hazel eyes filled with worry and that made him feel even worse. 

“Darius? Hey, come on. You’re starting to scare me little bit. What did Harris want?”

“He, um, he wants me to come to his office tomorrow,” Darius managed. 

“Okay...,” Liam trailed off, more than a little puzzled. He had no clue why the thought of going to Harris’ office would send Darius to the floor. He considered trying to get him up and decided to simply sit with him for now. Not wanting to crowd him, he positioned himself across from rather than beside him. 

Liam wasn’t sure what was going on. Darius sat across from him, silent in a way the man never was. Whatever was going on, it had to do with Harris. If Liam had to guess, he thought it might have something to do with Harris assuming Darius was the mole. Thinking about it, Liam frowned. Harris was pretty high up the food chain. He could make things really difficult for Darius if he wanted to. 

“I think I’m missing something here,” Liam said after long minutes of silence. When Darius didn’t respond, he tried a more direct approach. “Darius, what’s going on?” 

Darius stared at Liam in alarm, unsure what to say. He knew without being told that this was something that could not get out. Not only was what they had done to him illegal, if word got out they would have to fabricate a reason. That would not bode well for Tanz Industries. If the world ended in six months, it wouldn’t matter but Darius liked to think that most of them might still be around. Not all of them probably, but at least his legacy might live on.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Liam soothed when he saw the look of alarm on Darius’ face. Suddenly feeling too far away, he carefully moved onto his hands and knees and slowly crawled over to sit beside Darius. “You can trust me, Darius. You know you can trust me.”

“No one can know,” Darius said, shaking his head.

“No one can know what?”

“Harris and Rayburn were convinced I was the mole. I couldn’t tell them about Salvation.”

“Because of Grace and the uranium.”

“Yes,” Darius nodded. “And because I didn’t trust them not to try to take control of it. What the government thinks should be saved and what I think should be saved aren’t necessarily the same thing.”

“Beethoven. Yeah, I get it.” He did, too. People like Rayburn would be more concerned with making sure they had enough guns or whatever, not that the Gutenberg Bible was preserved. 

“Keep going,” Liam prodded when Darius fell silent again. He phrased it as a command rather than a request this time, remembering how Darius had responded to him on the sofa and how surprised the man seemed to be about his response. He knew it was unfair to use Darius’ state of mind against him right now, but he needed to know what had happened if he was going to help the man through it. 

“When standard interrogation tactics didn’t get them anywhere, they brought in what they call a, um, specialist.”

“A specialist?”

“A CIA interrogation specialist.”

“And what does a specialist do?”

“Usually they start with small time stuff, a beating most often, but they were a bit pressed for time so he only hit me the once before they went straight to waterboarding.”

“What?” Liam gasped, stunned. Surely he hadn’t heard that right? Surely Darius had not just told him that Harris had ordered him _waterboarded_ to make him confess to something he didn’t do.

“They, ah, they strapped me down to a table,” Darius went on, the words coming out of their own volition now. “I don’t remember how many times they asked me. It was always the same three questions. I remember, near the end, thinking they were going to screw up soon and really drown me, that I was swallowing more and more water each time.”

“Jesus,” Liam muttered. He felt sick, like he was going to throw up right there. Sick and furious. Harris had done this. Harris and Rayburn. And there was no way in hell Grace didn’t know about it. She knew. She had known that whole time they were running around looking for the real mole. She just hadn’t bothered to tell him.

“They finally gave up on it and were going to inject me with… something… to make me talk. I don’t know what,” Darius continued, breaking Liam out of his thoughts. “Grace got there before they could do it. It was close, though. The needle… they had it in my neck.”

“Okay, right,” Liam said, running hand through his hair. The first order of business was taking care of Darius. Everything else, including stringing Harris up by his balls, could wait. “Let’s get you up off the floor and into bed. It’s been a long night and I think we could both use some sleep.”

Liam got to his feet, still taking care not to move too quickly. He understood that Darius’ mind was not in a very good place at the moment. He hoped some rest would help remedy that. Not wanting to manhandle the man after that, he held out his hand and waited.

Darius looked up at Liam then at his proffered hand. He had no idea why the younger man was still there. After everything he had told him, Liam would be be wise to get as far from him as possible. The less association he had with Darius the safer he likely was. Still, the look on his face wasn’t the scorn or pity he expected but instead a combination of concern and… something else that Darius wasn’t quite sure of. It was enough to make him reach up and take Liam’s hand and let the man pull him to his feet.

“I’ve, uh, never been to your bedroom,” Liam smiled somewhat awkwardly. “You’ll have to lead the way.”

“You don’t have to stay,” Darius said, giving him an out as he led them through the living area to his private bedroom.

“I’d like to, if you don’t mind.”

Darius nodded, letting the subject drop for now as he moved to the side of the bed he normally slept on. He started to pull his shirt over his head and gasped as pain flared along his ribs. Liam was beside him before he knew it, going across the bed rather than around it. He felt his slightly smaller hand wrap around his arm, steadying him, and had to fight not to lean into him. He had shown more than enough weakness for one night. He needed to get a grip on himself if he didn’t want Liam to leave after all. 

“Where are you hurt?” Liam asked, unsure what to do. He didn’t want to cause Darius any more pain that he had already suffered. He remembered on the sofa, when he had touched him on the chest and he had hissed in pain, saying something about a bruise. He had brushed it off then, now he wished he hadn’t. 

“My ribs,” Darius answered. “It’s not bad, though. I just moved wrong.”

“Darius, if you can move wrong, it’s bad,” Liam said, his exasperation making his tone short. He saw Darius’ eyes shutter at his words and wanted to kick himself. “I’m sorry. I’m not upset with you. I’m pissed at what they did to you. Now how do I help you get this off without hurting you?”

“I don’t think that’s possible,” Darius admitted.

“Then I hope you’re not too attached to this shirt.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I’m cutting it off of you,” Liam told him, his tone leaving no room for argument. 

Darius looked at Liam, stunned. He blinked once, trying to wrap his head around not only the man’s words but the confident air with which they were said. If asked before tonight if Liam Cole could ever sound so self-assured, Darius would have said yes, in another five or six years. Maybe. 

“Darius!” Liam said loudly, snapping the man back to the here and now.

“What?” Darius asked, realizing he had missed whatever Liam had just said.

“I asked where the scissors are,” Liam repeated. “Unless you’d rather I go find a knife because I think I saw some in that kitchen area.”

“Ah, no,” Darius said quickly and motioned toward the open door at the far end of the room. “Scissors are, um, in the drawer in the bathroom through there.” 

“I’ll be right back,” Liam told him. He hurried into the bathroom, rifling through the drawers of the vanity until he found a pair of scissors. 

When he returned to the bedroom, he was relieved to see the man right where he had left him. He had just finished undoing his pants and started to push them down. Not wanting him to bend over and cause the pain in his ribs to flare up, Liam stepped forward and grabbed his arm, stopping him.

“Let me help you,” he said.

“I can get undressed by myself,” Darius replied, not wanting to appear totally helpless.

“I know you can, but I don’t want you to hurt yourself again.” He could see Darius getting ready to protest and leaned in closer to him. “Please.”

Darius hesitated a moment longer then nodded. In truth, he didn’t want to fight Liam on this. He was tired and hurting. Harris’ phone call had brought back memories he had spent the last couple of days painstakingly locking down. He didn’t have the strength left in him to fight. Not tonight.

Without another word, Liam set the scissors down on the bed and took hold of Darius’ pants. He pushed them down his legs, mindful that while Darius did not appear injured anywhere else there was no guarantee of that. Once he had them pooled at the man’s ankles, he knelt down and helped him step out of them. This close, he was able to make out the finger-shaped bruises on the man’s calves and clenched his jaw. The bastards had held him down. They had held him down in that room while they had tortured him and Harris had fucking let them. 

Liam knew his anger wasn’t going to do Darius any good so he took a deep breath and forced the worst of it away as he got back to his feet. He picked up the scissors and hesitated, trying to think of the best way to do this. “I think if I cut it up the back and then kind of peel it down your arms I won’t have to move them very much.”

“Okay,” Darius said. “You don’t have to do this, though. I really can take the shirt off.”

“Yeah, no,” Liam said, shaking his head. “Now try not to move.” He didn’t give him time to protest after that. Instead, he moved behind him and grabbed the bottom of the shirt. He began cutting it slowly up the back, not wanting to move too quickly and take a chance on putting any pressure on Darius’ arms. 

Once the back of the shirt was cut apart, he set the scissors on the nightstand. Moving back in front of the other man, he carefully pulled the shirt around. He worked it down one arm at a time, staring with the one Darius hadn’t been favoring. His shirt off, Liam dropped it to the floor next to his jeans. Looking back at Darius, he got his first real look at the man’s chest.

“Son of a bitch,” Liam swore as he took in the livid black and blue band that ran across the man’s lightly haired chest. It was about three inches wide and ran around the outside of his arms and across the middle of his chest. It was darkest on the left, the side Darius had been favoring and the side that Liam had accidentally touched earlier. Considering the level of discoloration, he wouldn’t be surprised if Darius wasn’t sporting at least one cracked rib. 

“It’s not that bad.”

Liam’s eyes shot to Darius’ face at his words. He opened his mouth to reply then quickly snapped it shut. Liam may not have known the man long, but he had never heard his voice sound small before. That was how it had sounded right then though, making it clear that Darius wasn’t up to this. He needed rest. They both did.

“Come on, let’s get some rest,” Liam said, forcing himself to let go of his anger and his questions and everything else. “We can talk about all of this in the morning. Let’s just try to get some sleep.”

“You don’t have to stay,” Darius said as he slid into bed, the cool crisp sheets familiar and welcoming. 

“I want to,” Liam told him again. “But if you want me to go, you just need to tell me. I can sleep out on the couch if you’d rather be alone.”

“You don’t want to go back…”

“I’m not leaving you here alone tonight,” Liam told him flatly. “I can sleep here, with you, or I can sleep out on the couch. It’s up to you.”

“In that case, I’d rather you stay here,” Darius replied. 

“Good. I’d rather stay here, too.” Liam slid into bed on the other side, careful not to jostle the other man. As soon as he was next to him, Darius pressed himself against him. It took a few tries but they found a position that was comfortable for both of them. Soon Darius was asleep, Liam not far behind. 

~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~

Liam wasn’t surprised that he woke up first. Darius had to be exhausted, emotionally if not physically. Liam still had a hard time wrapping his head around what he had found out, both that Harris had done such a thing and that Darius had gone to such extremes to protect Salvation. Actually, when he thought about it, Liam wasn’t all that surprised about that part. Darius was a very passionate man. Some things he believed in deeply. Salvation was quite obviously one of them. Should they fail to divert the asteroid, he wasn’t going to risk man kinds’s last chance for survival falling into the hands of people like Rayburn, and apparently Harris. He would die first. Well, Liam wasn’t going to let that happen either.

When Darius awoke, it was to the feel of a firm, lean chest under his head. He smiled, snuggling down a bit, then the night before came back in a rush. Memories of Liam and the sofa and Harris all jumbled together in a sickening wave causing him to go tense from head to toe. That only succeeded in reawakening the ache in his ribs and he hissed in pain before he could stop himself.

“Hey,” Liam said, letting him know he was awake, too. “Try not to tense up. You’ll only get those ribs hurting again.”

“Liam,” Darius began, unsure what to say to the younger man. He was grateful that he had stayed yet he could not help but feel embarrassed by his display of the night before.

“I know we need to talk,” Liam said. “Are you feeling a little, um, steadier than you were last night?”

“If you’re asking if I’m going to fall apart on you again, the answer is no,” Darius said. He tried to roll away from the other man, but Liam’s arm tightened around his shoulder stopping him.

“That wasn’t what I was asking,” he said. “I know last night really threw you. I mean, what we did was one thing, but that call from Harris…”

“Ah yes, well…”

“Don’t,” Liam interrupted. “Don’t brush me off. Look, if last night was just a one-night stand for you then… then that’s okay, I guess. I mean, it’s not what I want it to be, but I get it.”

“It’s not what I want it to be either,” Darius admitted. “But it’s probably what it should be. You’re my employee. We have to work together.”

“Don’t make excuses, Darius. Grace and Harris work together just fine. I mean they even torture people together.”

“Liam…”

“What? You really expect me not to be angry? After what he did to you?”

“I didn’t really think about it,” Darius said. “I guess I didn’t think you’d care all that much one way or the other.”

“Well, I do care. I care a lot.”

“I can see that.”

“Do you want this to be a one-night stand, Darius, or do you want something more?” Liam asked him flat out. “Because I want something more but I can’t do it alone.”

“What about Jillian?” Darius asked, though he didn’t want to. 

“Jillian… will probably be packing when she wakes up and realizes I left in the middle of the night, again, and didn’t come back.”

“And if she isn’t?”

“Then I guess we’ll be having a very awkward conversation,” Liam replied. “But you still haven’t answered the question. Do you want something more or were you just blowing off a little steam? Look, either way I’m still your friend. We’re still in this together. None of that changes no matter what else might.”

“Are you certain of that?” Darius challenged. “Because I have found that to rarely be true.”

“Well, I’m a rare kind of guy.”

“You most certainly are that. And to finally answer your question, yes, I would like this to be something more than simply one night.”

Liam grinned at him then carefully pushed Darius over onto his back. He held himself above the man, not wanting to put any weight on his injured ribs. Leaning down a bit, he pressed a soft kiss to his lips before pulling back. He could see the flare of lust in Darius’ eyes and it sparked his own. As much as he would love nothing more than to have this man again, he wanted to get his injuries seen to first. He had a feeling he hadn’t had those ribs looked at by anyone and Liam needed to see how bad the damage was.

He was about to ask if Darius had been seen by a doctor at all when he suddenly remembered a conversation he’d had with Grace when they’d first found out about the NASA hack, before they knew who was behind it. He felt a rush of shame at what he had said and knew he needed to tell Darius, that he wouldn’t be able to go on without doing so.

“What is it?” Darius asked. He had sensed the younger man’s rapid mood shift. Was Liam having second thoughts? Did he just now realize what a bad deal he was making, trading a beautiful young thing like Jillian for the likes of him?

“I need to tell you something,” Liam said, his mouth going dry. 

“If you’ve changed your mind…”

“No!” Liam said quickly. “But you might once I tell you this.”

“I seriously doubt that,” Darius told him with a frown. He had not wanted something this much in a long time and he could not think of anything Liam might possibly tell him that would make him change his mind. 

Liam blew out a breath and rolled back over onto his back next to Darius. He didn’t think he could do this while looking the man in the face. He couldn’t believe he had doubted him. Even if Darius did have both the means and the ability, he would never have done something like that. 

“Whatever it is, you can tell me,” Darius said, consciously using the same words Liam had used with him last night.

Knowing he had no other choice, Liam sighed and began. “When the satellite was first hacked, Grace asked me if I thought you could do it. I told her that yeah, you had the ability to do something like that. Then she… she asked me if I thought you would. I… I didn’t say anything. She asked me if I trusted you and…” 

Liam trailed off, disgusted with himself. He felt horrible for doubting Darius. He knew how dedicated he was to this project. He should have known he would never do anything to endanger it and hacking NASA would most definitely fall into that category.

“I’m sorry,” Liam said after a few minutes when neither of them spoke. “I won’t make that mistake again, Darius. I know I can trust you. I _do_ trust you.”

“You don’t have to say that just because you had sex with me,” Darius said quietly, trying not to show how hurt he was. He knew he wasn’t exactly open about his plans but he hadn’t realized the other man had harbored such mistrust about him. 

“I’m not. I trust you, Darius,” Liam said adamantly. He turned on his side, facing Darius, needing to see the other man. The tension in his body was easy to read and Liam hated that he was the cause of it. “Do you want me to go?”

Darius turned his head at that and looked at him. He could see the regret in Liam’s eyes and knew that all he had to do was nod and he would leave. As much as his words had hurt, Darius didn’t want that. Liam’s mistrust was as much his fault as the other man’s. If he had been more forthcoming perhaps he would not have been so wary. 

“No,” Darius finally replied. “I don’t want you to go.”

Liam huffed out a relieved breath and smiled softly. “I really am sorry. I won’t make that mistake again, I promise.” 

~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~

Liam swore under his breath as he maneuvered a rather stoned Darius from the elevator and into the Treehouse. The doctor had confirmed a hairline fracture along one of his ribs, though the majority of the damage was limited to severe bruising. They had needed to think fast when the doctor had asked how Darius had gotten hurt in the first place. Darius had solved that problem by reaching out and taking Liam’s hand causing the younger man to blush slightly. The doctor had cleared his throat and nodded, telling them to try to be a bit more careful in the future. Darius assured him that they would and they had left after Darius had been given an injection with both a pain reliever and a muscle relaxer along with a prescription for both.

Liam remembered how Darius had tensed at the sight of the needle. Liam had been the one to reach out then, taking Darius’ hand and holding it tightly. “You don’t have to do this,” he had told him. “We can just get the prescriptions filled and go home.”

Darius had shaken his head and pulled on his most convincing smile. Liam hadn’t bought it for a minute but it was good enough for the nurse. He still didn’t let go of Darius’ hand until the nurse actually left the room. By then, whatever narcotic they had given him had already started to take effect.

“Who knew you were such a lightweight when it came to pain meds,” Liam grinned as he barely managed to keep Darius from careening into the side of the couch. He managed to steer him around it and helped him to sit down. “I’d ask how you’re feeling but I think stoned probably covers it.”

“Only a little,” Darius grinned. His eyes were glazed, the pupils blown wide and his body felt loose and relaxed in a way it hadn’t since this whole roller coaster ride began. 

“Man, you are so high you’re in orbit,” Liam laughed. 

Darius actually giggled at that, finding Liam’s choice of words hilariously ironic. At the man’s questioning look he tried to explain. “When Harris and Grace came for me at the air field, Harris said I was being arrested for high treason. I said I wasn’t the one who was high.”

Liam felt his anger flare at the mention of Harris and what he had done. He clamped down on it ruthlessly, knowing Darius didn’t need that right now. He was stoned and compromised and vulnerable in a way he hadn’t even been last night. He needed Liam to be there with him, not stewing in his own anger. Liam vowed to be what Darius needed him to be. He could deal with his own emotional outbursts afterward.

“TESS, can you raise the temperature in here a bit, please?” Liam asked.

“Of course, Liam,” TESS replied.

“You cold?” Darius asked, grinning.

“No,” Liam shook his head. “But I want to get that shirt off of you while you’re still feeling no pain and I don’t want you to get cold.”

“Riiight,” Darius said, drawing the word out. “Is this your nefarious plan to get me out of my clothes?”

“Do I really need a nefarious plan to get you out of your clothes?”

Darius thought for a moment before answering. “No, not really.”

“I didn’t think so. Come on, sit up a bit. At least this time it’s a button down rather than a pull-over,” Liam said as he moved from beside Darius to crouch down in front of him.

“So if I let you take my clothes off does that mean we can make out?” Darius asked as he watched Liam unbutton his shirt. He was just stoned enough that it didn’t even occur to him to help the other man. 

“Maybe. A little. If it doesn’t put any pressure on your ribs,” Liam said as he continued to unbutton Darius’ shirt. “The doctor said we had to be more careful.”

“The doctor thought I got this way having sex,” Darius reminded him, shaking his head. “What kind of sex does he think we’re having, anyway?”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to know. Neither do you. And we’re still taking it easy. I don’t want to hurt you. I want you nice and healthy so we don’t have to worry about things like cracked ribs and bruises.”

“Have plans for me, huh?”

Liam was about to answer when the sound of TESS welcoming Darius into the Treehouse interrupted him. Liam spun around in alarm, putting himself between Darius and whatever threat might be coming toward them. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was only Grace. He started to ask how she had done that when he remembered the tracking chip that she obviously still had.

“Liam!” Grace said, surprised to find the younger man in Darius’ personal quarters. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask the same of you?” Liam replied.

“Hey Gracie!” Darius cried out loudly when he heard who had arrived. He considered Grace an ally, one of the few he actually had. She was on his side, at least most of the time. He was fairly sure he could trust her with most things. Fairly sure. 

“Darius? Are you okay?” Grace asked. She moved around Liam and took up his now empty seat on the sofa. 

“I’m great,” Darius beamed. “Liam, help me get out of my pants.”

“He’s a little high,” Liam said by way of explanation. “The doctor gave him something for pain before sending us… before we left.”

“Something for pain?”

“For his cracked rib,” Liam said icily. 

“I thought they only waterboarded…” Grace said, looking away.

“Only waterboarded? _Only_ waterboarded?” Liam snarled angrily. His hands balled into fists and he actually took a step toward her before he stopped himself. He saw Darius draw back and that did more to cool his anger than anything. 

“Liam?” Grace queried, taken aback by the young man’s reaction. 

“The cracked rib was caused by… that. From where he fought against the strap holding him down.” The coldness in Liam’s tone had both Grace and Darius looking at him. He laid his hand on Darius’ shoulder and squeezed lightly, letting him know everything was okay. When Grace met his eyes, however, he couldn’t stop himself from glaring. It kept running over and over through his mind that she had known. She had known Darius was being tortured and hadn’t said a word. She had known what Harris was doing and hadn’t stopped it.

“Is there anything I can do?” Grace asked, breaking the tense silence. 

“No,” Liam replied. “I can take care of Darius. We don’t need any help.”

“I still need help with my pants,” Darius added, grinning widely.

“Your pants are staying on,” Liam told him.

“Well at least finish taking my shirt off,” Darius groused. “Or did Grace ruin your nefarious plan?”

“I thought we already established that I didn’t need a nefarious plan,” Liam said as he crouched down in front of Darius once more and began working on his shirt again.

“I’m sure Jillian would like to see you,” Grace tried again. “I can stay and look after Darius. You can go home and get some rest.” She felt horrible about what had been done to the man, even if it hadn’t been her doing, and wanted to find some way to try to make it up to him. Whether Harris and Rayburn wanted to admit it or not, they needed Darius if they were going to have any chance at all.

“Grace, I’m not leaving him,” Liam told her. 

“But what about…”

“I’m not leaving him.”

“He’s not leaving me,” Darius parroted, smiling brightly at Liam as he did so, as if that fact pleased him beyond measure. 

Liam took in the look on Darius’ face and the last of his anger melted away. How could he be angry when Darius was looking at him like that? Yeah, part of it was the medication talking but a lot of it was Darius without all his filters and masks in place. Liam found he liked that. 

“Okay,” Grace said, taking in the silent byplay between the two men. If she didn’t know better she would swear there was something going on between them. Studying them, she realized she didn’t necessarily know better. There could very well be something more between the pair that they had simply kept to themselves. After all, she and Harris were doing the very same thing if for different reasons. 

“Go or stay, I really don’t care,” Liam said. “But he’s a bit compromised right now so don’t go trying to pick his brain for information or anything like that.”

“Liam! I wouldn’t do something like that,” Grace said, aghast.

“Really?” Liam asked sarcastically. 

“Really,” Grace said, refusing to back down. 

Deciding to ignore Grace, Liam turned his attention back to Darius. He finished unbuttoning his shirt and stood. “I’m going to work this off starting on your good side. That way I can just slide it off the other. Okay?”

“You could just get the scissors again,” Darius offered. The drugs in his system were making everything soft and fuzzy around the edges. Even if he hadn’t been high as a kite, he would still have trusted Liam not to hurt him. Not on purpose at least. 

“You’ll run out of clothes pretty fast if I keep cutting them off of you,” Liam shot back, unable to keep the grin from his lips. He heard Grace suck in a startled breath and realized how that sounded. He thought about saying something to try to mitigate the damage as it were and then thought the hell with it. He didn’t care what Grace or anyone else thought about it. What he and Darius did was none of their business anyway. 

Liam took his time, carefully working the shirt off of Darius, first one side then the other. Once the shirt was off, he dropped it on the floor. He looked over the bruising on Darius’ chest, barely stopping himself from reaching out and touching. The man might be high, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t still feel pain. 

“I let you take my clothes off,” Darius pointed out. “Can we make out now?”

Grace nearly choked on her tongue at Darius’ comment. Liam hadn’t been kidding when he’d said Darius was compromised. The man had literally no filter right now, saying whatever came to mind without regard to the potential consequences. She liked to think that he trusted her enough not to worry about her reaction, but after everything she doubted if that was the case. At least she didn’t have to wonder if there was something going on. 

“Ah, are you sure you want to do that?” Liam hedged, his eyes cutting to Grace then back to Darius. 

“My mistake,” Darius said softly, the hurt in his voice unmistakable. He started to turn away when Liam’s hand cupped his cheek and turned him back to face him.

“No. My mistake,” Liam said. He leaned forward and covered Darius’ mouth with his own before the man could protest. He braced himself on the back of the sofa, making sure not to lean against the other man. When he pulled back, he saw that the dazed, happy look had returned to Darius’ eyes. That was good enough for him. 

“Is there anything you two need?” Grace asked as she stood. Her presence was clearly not needed here, was in fact an intrusion. She would call on Darius again tomorrow. Hopefully he wouldn’t be stoned half out of his mind on pain medication. If she was lucky, Liam’s anger might even have cooled enough for him to do more than glare at her. 

“No,” Liam said without taking his eyes from Darius. “We have everything we need.”

“Yes, I can see that. I’ll stop by tomorrow. Maybe we can talk.”

Darius was so lost in Liam’s eyes that he didn’t even notice Grace leaving until he heard TESS say “Goodbye, Darius”. He glanced around then looked back at Liam. “Did Grace leave?” He asked.

“Yeah,” Liam chuckled. “She said she’d come by tomorrow to see how you were.”

“I don’t need her to check up on me. Not with you here.”

“That’s right. You don’t. And it wasn’t that I didn’t want to kiss you with her here. But you’re not exactly yourself right now. I didn’t want to make things harder for you when this day finally catches up to you.”

“I may be stoned, Liam, but I know what I’m doing. Now what do I have to do to get you to help me out of these pants?”

~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~

“You know I could get rather used to waking up this way,” Darius said as he came awake to the feel of Liam holding him once more. The steadily growing ache in his ribs had awoken him but he didn’t want to move. It felt too good to be held like this. It had been a long time since a lover had displayed such honest affection for him. Years, in fact. He hadn’t realized how much he longed for it until now.

“So could I,” Liam said, pressing a light kiss to Darius’ forehead. “How’re those ribs?”

“Aching a bit but I don’t want to get up yet.”

“Okay.” He understood the sentiment. He didn’t want to give this up just yet either. He had cared for Jillian, a great deal in fact. But he hadn’t been able to be honest with her. With Darius, he didn’t have to worry about what he did and didn’t say. He didn’t have to hide his worry or fear. He could talk about what was going on, both good and bad. And if he was honest with himself, there had been something about the man since that very first day at the lecture hall. He had just been too chicken shit to do anything about it. 

“What are you thinking so hard about?” Darius asked when he noticed how deeply Liam was concentrating. 

“You. Me. Us,” Liam replied. 

“Good things I hope.”

“Yeah. Just thinking about how nice it is not to have to lie or hold things back. I can be myself with you.”

“You make it sound like you’re getting the good end of this deal. You have no idea how grateful I am that I have you.”

“Darius,” Liam huffed, unsure what to say. He was grateful, too. Grateful that Darius was allowing him to be this close to him, to help him like this. He was normally a very private man, when he wasn’t acting the part of billionaire socialite. For him to let Liam in like this showed how much the man had come to trust him.

“You’re a good friend. I don’t have many of those. I don’t have any, really. I had Lazlo…”

“I’m sorry about that,” Liam said sincerely as he continued to hold him. “I know he meant a lot to you.”

“We were friends since we were kids. I was supposed to protect him not… not get him killed.”

“It wasn’t your fault. You’re not the one that killed him and, well, I think he was like you. I think he believed in all of this, in your vision. Did he know about Salvation?”

“Yeah. Yeah, he knew.”

“Then I think he was right where he wanted to be, where he felt he needed to be. He died for what he believed in.”

“He died for me,” Darius countered guiltily.

“That’s what I said,” Liam replied gently. “He died for what he believed in and that happened to be you.”

“If you were smart, you’d stay away from me. People that are close to me, I only end up hurting them.”

“You’re not going to hurt me and even if you do, that’s my decision to make.” 

They managed to be up and dressed by the time Grace dropped by, Darius wearing his loosest clothes at Liam’s insistence. He had been hurting again by the time they had dressed but the medication the doctor had prescribed had taken the edge off leaving behind a dull ache. It didn’t leave him as pain free as whatever they had shot him up with but it didn’t leave him half out of his head either. Darius thought it was a fair exchange. 

The sound of the door opening and TESS’ voice saying, “Hello, Darius,” snapped Liam’s head up. He frowned as Grace waltzed through the door without so much as pausing. 

“You really need to reprogram that chip or take it back,” Liam said just loud enough for Darius to hear. He didn’t care if Grace heard him, but he didn’t want the chip suddenly going missing or something. He didn’t think the government had the ability to replicate it, but he didn’t want to chance that either.

Darius quirked an eyebrow at Liam, nodding slightly when he shook his head. They would discuss it later, once they were alone. He supposed he could understand his point. Grace did just walk in here like she had the right. Liam was sleeping with him and he showed more respect than that. Darius chided himself, telling himself he was being too hard on the woman. For all she knew, he was still high as a kite. She had no way to know if Liam had stayed the night or not. Even if he had, it didn’t mean he was still there. Grace likely thought he was alone this morning and was simply being expedient. 

“Liam. Darius. Feeling any better this morning?” Grace asked as she came over to join them on the sofa.

“Excuse me,” Liam said, rising. “You mind if I use your computer?”

“You don’t have to ask. Help yourself,” Darius said. 

“You don’t have to go,” Grace said, feeling like she was intruding once more. She just wanted to talk to Darius, to see how he was, to try to start repairing some of the damage Harris and Rayburn had done.

“Oh don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere,” Liam said, making it clear that he had no intention of leaving Darius alone with her. “I just need to take care of something.”

“Well, at least he’s not giving me the death glare any more,” Grace noted. Apparently Darius wasn’t the only one she needed to worry about mending fences with. In truth, it looked like Liam would be the more difficult of the two. Darius seemed to have already brushed the incident off, at least as far as she was concerned. Liam obviously had not.

“I didn’t think he would get so upset,” Darius admitted, still surprised by the strength of Liam’s reaction. Even before committing to something more, Liam had been enraged over what had been done to him. Darius had not thought the young man capable of such cold fury until that night.

“I can’t really blame him,” Grace said. “If… if my lover had been hurt like that…”

“We weren’t lovers when I told him,” Darius said. “I mean we were, but not really.”

“So this is new then?”

“Yes,” Darius chuckled. “I keep waiting for him to wake up and realize what he’s gotten himself into.”

“If he hasn’t walked by now…”

“It’s only been a few days, Grace.”

“I meant on everything.”

“He wouldn’t do that,” Darius shook his head. “He cares too much. It wouldn’t matter if he thought I was the biggest jerk on the planet. He’d still find a way to work with me. He’s a good man. He deserves a hell of a lot better than me.”

“I doubt he’d agree with you on that,” Grace argued.

“What? He doesn’t consider himself a good man?”

“He doesn’t consider anyone better than you,” she countered, refusing to let Darius deflect her. “He’s right in that, you know. You’re one of the good ones and I’m so sorry they did that to you. I’m sorry I let them do that to you.”

“You didn’t let them, Grace,” Darius told her. “I know how much the thought of what they were going to do scared you. But there was nothing you could do to stop it. Harris could, but he was letting Rayburn run the show, thought I doubt she had to twist his arm too much.”

“You don’t really believe that, do you?” Grace asked, appalled that Darius thought Harris actually wanted what happened.

“Oh please. Harris hasn’t wanted me here since day one.”

“Darius, when he called you it really was just to check on you,” Grace said, hoping to convince the man. Harris had told her of Darius’ reaction to his late night phone call. It was one of the reasons she had been so bent on talking to the man. She needed to see for herself what kind of shape Darius was in. 

“To check on me?”

“He wanted to make sure you were okay… after everything.”

“Okay?” Liam called out sarcastically from behind Darius’ computer screen. He had been quietly listening to the pair as he worked. He hadn’t meant to say anything but had ended up snapping out a reply before he could stop himself. “He has a cracked rib, Grace. How is that okay?”

“Liam, it’s alright,” Darius told him, hoping to diffuse some of his anger. Even now it still surprised him how quickly Liam grew upset, going from calm to outraged in a matter of seconds. 

“It’s really not, but I know you’re asking me to drop it so I will,” Liam replied to Darius before turning his attention to Grace one last time. “But don’t sit there and insult him by asking if he’s okay after you had him tortured because no, Grace, he’s not okay.”

“Wow,” Grace blinked when Liam firmly turned back to the monitor in front of him. “He is never going to forgive us, is he?”

“He will. You, at least,” Darius replied. His eyes were locked on the man across the room, or as much of him as he could see behind the over-sized screen. He wasn’t sure what was driving Liam’s anger but he thought it was something more. There had to be something fueling this beyond Darius’ abuse at Harris’ hands. While he agreed that was certainly enough to enrage him, Liam’s anger kept vacillating. One moment he seemed to be calming, to be at least beginning to accept what had happened and put it behind him, and the next he was seeing red all over again. To Darius, that signaled that there was something more going on here than he had first thought.

“Darius?”

“Sorry,” Darius said, smiling wryly as he turned back to her. “He’ll get past this. He just needs some time. You, uh, you might want to tell Harris to cut a bit of a wide path, though.”

“I’m afraid time is the one thing we don’t have a lot of,” Grace said reluctantly. 

“Don’t worry,” Darius assured her. “Like I said, Liam will do his job no matter how he feels personally. He cares too much not to. But he doesn’t need Harris working him up. It will only waste time and, as you just pointed out, that is the one thing we can’t afford to waste.”

“I’ll tell Harris,” Grace said. “But he’s going to need to talk to you at some point. It doesn’t have to be alone if you’re not comfortable.”

“I’m not afraid of Harris,” Darius said defiantly.

“No one said you were,” Grace replied softly. “And it’s not as if that would stop you anyway. I was actually thinking more of Liam and his likely reaction to any sort of private meeting between the two of you.”

“Ah, yes. You do have a point,” Darius capitulated. “Liam… he wouldn’t take that well. Not now at any rate.”

“So maybe we have an impromptu meeting in the lab,” Grace offered. “A bit of a brainstorming session, just to get everyone up to speed.”

Darius looked toward Liam to see if he had any objection. The younger man appeared to still be concentrating completely on the screen in front of him. Darius knew differently, though. He could tell from the tension in Liam’s shoulders that he was still listening to their conversation. He had heard Grace’s suggestion and, while he didn’t particularly like it, he wasn’t putting up a fight either.

“Good idea,” Darius nodded. “We need to get everyone on the same page. At least the four of us. I’m not convinced that Rayburn wouldn’t be more of a hinderance than anything.”

“She won’t be there,” Grace said quickly. She hadn’t even needed to look in Liam’s direction to know his opinion on the matter. While a lot of the blame for what was done to Darius could be laid at her and Harris’ feet, even more could be laid at Rayburn’s.

Grace didn’t stay for much longer, satisfied that at least some headway had been made. She hoped, once they were all in a room together, Darius would see that Harris wasn’t a threat to him, that they really were all on the same team. She knew they wouldn’t get anywhere with Liam until they managed that much. She would be sure to give Harris a heads-up, though. He needed to know that the meeting was likely to be a hostile one, at least as far as Liam went. She knew Darius would go to whatever lengths necessary to pretend that it was just another day at the office.

~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~

“You staying?” Darius asked as he and Liam sat together on the sofa. It had been a long day and he was tired, the ever-present ache in his ribs only adding to it. 

“I’d like to,” Liam replied, leaving it up to Darius. It was his home after all. If he wanted to be alone there wasn’t much Liam could do about it. He really didn’t want to go back to his place. Jillian had left and it was a bit of a shambles, not that that was the reason why he didn’t want to go back. 

“In that case, what do I need to do to get you to cut me out of my clothes again?” Darius asked much more playfully than he felt. He knew something was still bothering Liam but he didn’t want to press. 

“You sure you feel up to that?” 

“Oh I’m up for it,” Darius smirked earning a laugh from Liam.

“That was just bad,” Liam said, shaking his head.

“But true,” Darius replied. 

“So we’re back to my nefarious plan, huh?”

“I thought you said you didn’t have one of those.”

“I said I didn’t need one, not that I didn’t have one.”

“Ah the subtleties of semantics,” Darius mused.

“Come on,” Liam said, springing to his feet and holding out a hand to Darius. “Let’s move this party to the bedroom.”

Darius let himself be pulled to his feet before reversing his grip on Liam’s hand and tugging the smaller man against him. He let go of his hand and gripped his hip instead, letting his other hand sink into his messy hair. Tipping his head up, he kissed him, slowly at first then steadily deepening it until Liam was holding onto his hips with both hands.

“Maybe I have a nefarious plan or two of my own,” Darius said, his voice deep and husky. 

“I’m yours,” Liam rasped as lust hit him low in the gut. 

“Liam,” Darius moaned, leaning down and kissing him again. “Don’t tempt me.”

“Sorry,” Liam whispered against his lips, though he was anything but. He understood what Darius meant, though. They weren’t ready for anything like that yet and Darius wasn’t up to it anyway. 

The rest of the trip to the bedroom was a blur of kisses and touches and trying not to trip over each other. For such a short distance it seemed to take forever and Liam was relieved when they finally reached the bed without ending up in a heap on the floor.

They kissed all through undressing each other, lips and hands exploring as if they had never touched before, as if this was their first night together. In a way, it was. It was the first night they were together when one of them wasn’t emotionally compromised in some way. They were on equal footing for once, neither of them having to worry about taking undue advantage of the other. 

Climbing in bed, they tried to resume their heated kissing, but Darius’ ribs kept protesting. They tried with Darius on his side, but he quickly grew uncomfortable. Then they tried with Darius on top of Liam, but the constant pressure on his chest made the ache flare into a searing pain. Groaning in frustration, Darius threw himself down onto his back, his arm covering his face.

“Hey,” Liam said, taking hold of his arm and pulling it down. “We’ll figure it out.”

“It’s sex, Liam. Not quantum physics. What’s there to figure out?”

“For starters, a position that doesn’t make your ribs hurt,” Liam replied, refusing to let Darius’ tone get to him. He could understand the man’s frustration. 

Liam stretched out beside his lover and looked at him. Darius didn’t appear to be in any pain at the moment. So whatever they did, they just needed to keep Darius on his back without Liam actually resting any of his weight on him. A couple of positions immediately came to mind but Liam dismissed them at once. They were not ready for that. In fact, Liam wasn’t even sure Darius was willing to bottom. He didn’t exactly strike him as the type.

“What?” Darius asked when he turned his head and saw the shifting emotions in Liam’s eyes.

“You’re not in pain like this,” Liam said.

“No, but you’re entirely too far away. Is that what you were thinking about?”

“Yeah. I was trying to figure out what we could do with you on your back without putting any pressure on your ribs.”

“Ah,” Darius said. He felt himself blushing faintly and that fact alone caused him to blush even more. Since when did he blush over sex? Apparently thirty seconds ago when he began seriously considering letting another man fuck him.

“Hey, we don’t ever have to do that if you don’t want to,” Liam said. 

Darius quirked an eyebrow at him in reply. 

“I mean it,” Liam laughed. “I know people say that all the time, but I really do mean it.”

“So you plan to just give up…”

“It’s a single sex act,” Liam interrupted. “Are you telling me this relationship is off if I don’t let you fuck me?”

“No, of course not,” Darius said. He stopped then, realizing what he had implied. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it to come out like that.”

“It’s okay. We haven’t really talked about this stuff. Even if that was what I wanted, your ribs aren’t up to that right now anyway.”

“You don’t want that?”

“Not tonight,” Liam said. “Tonight I just want to be with you.”

“I want that, too,” Darius said. “Now tell me how you want to be with me.”

“You really want to know?” Liam asked. He reached out and let his hand come to rest on Darius’ stomach, slowly rubbing back and forth over the muscles there. For a corporate billionaire, Darius had an amazing body, lean and muscular. Liam found himself wanting to trace the contours of all those muscles. Preferably with his tongue.

“Yes,” Darius replied, sucking in a breath at the feel of Liam’s hand on him.

“I want to suck your cock,” Liam said, his eyes practically glued to Darius’ face as he said the words. He was rewarded with the sight of Darius’ dark eyes going even darker as the words registered. 

“I want that, too.”

“I kind of figured you’d be onboard,” Liam chuckled.

“No,” Darius said. “Well, yes, I am but that isn’t what I meant. I meant I want to suck you, too.”

“Oh,” Liam said surprised. “Are you sure? You don’t have to.”

“I’m sure,” Darius told him. 

“Alright, but tell me if it’s too much on your ribs, okay?” 

“You worry far too much, but if it will make you feel better, I promise.”

That was good enough for Liam. Pushing up onto his hands and knees he leaned down for one more deep kiss, pushing his tongue into Darius’ mouth before pulling back once more. His cock had grown hard when Darius had said he wanted to suck him as well. Looking down his lover’s body, he was pleased to see that he was just as hard.

As carefully as he could, Liam moved on top of Darius. He knew all it would take was one misplaced knee to end things before they began. He was also fairly certain that this was as new for Darius as the experience on the sofa had likely been. He had obviously been with men before, but Liam doubted if he’d ever let one pin him to his own bed. 

“It’s okay, Liam,” Darius said sensing his lover’s sudden hesitance. “I want this just as badly as you do.”

Liam stroked Darius’ leg, letting him know he heard him. He settled into place, spreading his knees around Darius’ head. He was mindful to keep his weight off the man, not letting his body settle as low as he normally would. He felt Darius’ arm come up to wrap around his thigh, a hand grasping his hard cock by the base. It was the first time Liam had felt Darius’ hand on him there and it sent a jag of lust all the way through him.

Needing something to distract himself before he came all over Darius’ face, Liam reached out and wrapped his hand around the other man’s hard cock, lifting it toward his lips. He was gratified when he heard him moan and quickly opened his mouth to swipe his tongue over the dark, fat head. 

Darius couldn’t stop his hips from thrusting up when he felt Liam’s tongue on his cock for the first time. It was followed by a barely stifled gasp as his ribs protested the movement. Even the sharp bite of pain did nothing to quell his arousal, his cock as hard as ever. At this rate, he wasn’t going to last very long at all. With that thought in mind, Darius turned his attention to the man kneeling over him. Opening his mouth, he guided Liam’s hard cock down and into it, closing his lips around the head and sucking. 

It was Liam’s turn to moan and thrust helplessly when he felt Darius close his mouth over the head of his cock. He had to stomp down on the almost overwhelming desire to bury himself in Darius’ throat. He had a feeling the man would probably let him, but that wasn’t what he wanted. Not this time. This time was for slow and easy, for taking care of each other. There would be time for fun and games later.

Liam felt the man slowly taking him, bit by bit. It felt incredible, to have Darius’ hot, wet mouth on him and his hand tightened on Darius’ cock without thought. He felt Darius moan around his cock and that was enough to remind him of what he was supposed to be doing. 

Licking a wide, wet stripe up the side of his cock, Liam licked over the head again, lapping up the fluid that had collected there. He groaned as the sharp taste hit his tongue then he was taking Darius’ cock into his mouth, running his tongue up and down it as he took him in deeper and deeper.

Darius nearly choked when Liam licked over his cock again before starting to suck him. It had been a while since he had done this but he did not recall a lover every tasting so good, ever feeling so good in his mouth. Being on the bottom, it was hard for him to really move. Keeping one hand on the base of Liam’s cock so he couldn’t accidentally choke him, he used his free hand to urge him to move his hips, helping him settle into a rhythm that had him fucking his mouth as he sucked him. He wished he could do the same, could press up into Liam’s mouth, but he remembered how it had hurt that first time so held himself still and trusted Liam to take care of him once more.

Liam tried to resist when Darius urged him to move his hips but the man’s insistence, coupled with his own desire, was more than he could take and he soon found himself fucking into the man’s mouth. He kept his thrusts as shallow as he could manage, glad that Darius kept one hand wrapped around the base of him. He quickly settled into a rhythm, sucking Darius’ cock in time with the thrust of his hips. When he felt the man’s cock start to swell, he moaned in a combination of arousal and relief. His own orgasm was rapidly approaching and he wanted to take Darius with him.

Darius could feel himself getting close. He didn’t want to come. He didn’t want this to end. Liam was fucking his mouth, though not nearly as hard as he knew the younger man wanted to. He was sucking his cock at the same time, making Darius feel as if he was totally engulfed. Like all truly good things, though, he knew it could not last forever and with a moan, Darius gripped Liam’s hip hard and began to come into his lover’s mouth.

Liam’s only warning was the sudden tightening of Darius’ hand on his hip then the cock in his mouth was jerking as Darius began to come. Liam could only moan weakly as he tried to swallow around the man’s cock. Satisfied that Darius’ pleasure had been seen to, he finally let go of his own control and thrust forward as far as the hand around his cock would allow. A moment later, he was moaning and coming as well.

When he could finally think again, Liam realized he was dangerously close to collapsing on top of Darius. He pushed himself up on his hands and knees and carefully moved off the other man. Once he was beside him again, he leaned down and kissed him, moaning at the taste of himself in Darius’ mouth, then dropped down beside him. Linking hands, they laid there together, neither of them talking, simply content to be together.

~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~S~

Harris sat in his office thinking about “The Darius Situation” as he had taken to calling it. Grace had informed him of the meeting set for the next day and had given him a somewhat cryptic warning about staying away from Liam. He wasn’t sure what that was all about and, at the moment, wasn’t sure he wanted to. 

He hadn’t meant for things to go the way they had. He hadn’t meant for Darius to think he hated him. He certainly hadn’t meant for the man to think he would have him tortured simply to get him out of the picture as Grace had implied. He had to wonder what that said about him, that a man so good at reading other people would think such a thing of him. Not that he blamed him. He had stood by and let what happened in that room go on. He had known it was wrong but he hadn’t stopped it. Grace had known it was wrong and she had done something about it. No wonder Darius didn’t want him anywhere near him. 

Any other time, Harris would back off. This wasn’t any other time, though. They had less than six months to find a way to divert the asteroid or everyone was going to die. He thought about stepping down but who was to say whoever took his place wouldn’t make things even harder on Darius and his team. No, he had to see this through, which meant he and Darius had to find a way to work together.

Opening his laptop, Harris pulled up the latest set of briefings. He started to read through them when his screen suddenly went black. He frowned and checked the power cord but it was plugged in. He started to press the power button to restart it when it started flashing. It turned black for a moment longer before words started slowly scrolling across it.

__

_Touch him again and you’ll pray for the asteroid_

The message hung in the middle of his screen for a full minute before the screen flickered out again. A moment later the screen flashed and the briefings he was looking at reappeared. Shaking his head, Harris closed his computer and leaned back. With everything they were dealing with hacking his computer here was only a step or two lower than hacking NASA. It should not have been possible.

Like with the NASA hack, he tried to think of everyone who could have pulled something like that off. Darius was the first to come to mind, but he dismissed him at once. _Touch him_ the message had said. Darius didn’t send that. Besides, threats like that weren’t his style. He had a feeling this was what Grace had been talking about when she had warned him to stay away from Liam. It would seem it was more than just Darius he had to find a way to work with again. They really didn’t have time for this.


End file.
